Ashara Ekundayo

Ashara Ekundayo is a
cultural worker of the urban landscape who brings her whole existence
into the social entrepreneurial movement. As a catalyst, consultant,
producer, and entrepreneur for over 20 years, she has worked with
national and international organizations to help build capacity for
increased community engagement through the uses of creative practice
including performance arts ritual, exhibition, and film. As an
activist committed to social change she founded BluBlak Media
Consulting, the Pan African Arts Society, and Blue & Yellow Logic
in Denver, Colorado and is currently working with a collective of solutionaries
in the launching of HUB Oakland where she will also be the curator of Omi Arts - both are slated to open in Summer 2013.

Her personal belief and work
aesthetic define abundance as a station inside the soul – not connected
to any material thing and acknowledges that our connection and
interdependence to everything on planet Earth generates and sustains
wealth.

Ashara Ekundayo is a cultural strategist and connector of the urban landscape and has served as catalyst, curator, educator, and producer for more than 23 years. Considered a thought-leader and strategic executor, she honed her business skills in the non-profit sector and is often found moderating or presenting in forums exploring the intersections of sustainable design, money, and meaning. As a consultant she works with organizations to build capacity for increased community engagement through the uses of creative arts practice, exhibition, and project management. A Certified Permaculture Designer, serial social entrepreneur, and lifetime activist committed to social justice, Ashara has supported individuals and companies in the redesign of their brand and marketing strategies utilizing a myriad of tools and practices. Her many interests and talents have gained her the loving title of "Jedi" by her peers and clients.

Selected by the Ashoka Foundation as a social innovator “stimulating the green economy," Ashara works as a sustainability mentor by designing innovative curriculum and programing to support transformative healing in communities around the world. She was hired by the U.S. Dept of State to help implement their first Professional Fellowship in Food Security, is a Fellow with Green For All, and is the co-founder The GrowHaus, an interactive aquaponic farm in Denver, CO. She combines her passions for food, art and tech to increase the dialogue on regenerative design and has shared her vision for cultural equity at conferences such as SOCAP, SXSW, and the World Social Forum.

Most recently Ashara Ekundayo is the Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Impact Hub Oakland, LLC, an innovation collaboratory & co-working space for social entrepreneurs engaged in building a just society through business development. She is also the Curator for Omi Gallery, a visual and sound arts venue featuring one-person exhibitions and performances.

Experience

Apr
2012 - Present

Producer/Curator / Pecha Kucha Night Oakland

Produce and market the "official" PKN in Oakland described as the globally acclaimed gatherings that embrace the art of slideshow storytelling. Co-curate a lineup of up to 10 creatives from various sectors who present 20 images and speak for 20 seconds per image.

Oct
2011 - Present

Co-Founder | Chief Creative Officer (CCO) / Impact Hub Oakland

Working with a team of solutionaries in the founding, overall development, branding, strategic partnership building, and creative/artistic presentation of Hub Oakland whose mission is to cultivate, support and connect purpose-driven people and social entrepreneurs in building solutions for local and global impact by providing access to space, ideas, mentors and resources.

Jan
1999 -
Dec
2013

Owner, Creative Consultant / BluBlak Media

I open the way for individuals, organizations and corporations to explore inclusiveness and creativity in their personal and professional environment - through visualization, event coordination, staffing. I am a catalyst who creates and cultivates opportunities for people & organizations to strategically collaborate!

Managed all aspects of the International Professional Fellowship in Food Security aka BoldFood program - an adult exchange between professionals working within social, cultural, economic, and political aspects of food security, especially as related to urban and peri-urban agriculture in the U.S., Kenya and Uganda. BoldFood was funded by the U.S. Dept. of State Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs from October 2012 - January 2012 and administered through Colorado-based social profit, www.BoldLeaders.org

Co-Founder of The Growhaus - responsible for community marketing, strategic partnerships, and media relations in the cultivation and execution of artistic special events at The Growhaus incl. mural arts and multi-media special events.

Mar
2009 -
May
2010

Cultural Outreach Architect/Brand Manager / Blue and Yellow Logic

Blue and Yellow Logic is a social enterprise supporting the creation of a racially-diverse green workforce by providing Sustainability Bootcamps through our youth-powered hip-hop curriculum designed by local eco-cultivators. We also provide consulting, soft-skills training and job placement services to unions, businesses, non-profits, government entities, institutions of higher learning, and schools.

2009 -
2010

Columnist / Denver Urban Spectrum

Feb
1998 -
Oct
2009

Founder/Artistic Director / Pan African Arts Society

The Pan African Arts Society (PAAS) is a Colorado-based non-profit 501c3 organization that visualizes and executes arts education, social change venues throughout the year and within the Denver metro-area in order to increase dialogue and action in diverse settings through the use of cultural icons including film, performance, creative writing and oration. Some of our award-winning projects include; the Denver Pan African Film Festival, "Cafe Nuba" spoken-word & music showcase, "A Young Sista's Bootkamp," and Q-Poc Lounge.

Sept
2007 -
Mar
2009

On-Air Host ~ "The Activist Studio" / FSTV

As host of "The Activist Studio" on DISH network's channel 9415 - FSTV, I had the pleasure of sharing space and interviewing on air, people who work in their communities to help empower, educate, and uplift the whole ~ we call them activists, I call them healers.

Feb
2006 -
Apr
2008

Project Producer, Artistic Director / Carat Enterprise

Co-Created and co-produced the web's 1st online HighDef slam poetry competition site - www.Podslam.org which combines the technology of indie filmmaking and new media, with creativity of poets and performance artists to promote media justice and digital divide in poor communities and communities of color. Additionally, Podslam.org initiated, produced, and sponsored community events such as the "Urban Poetics" event at the Denver Art Museum addressing race, class and gender through slam poetry, and PSI Poetry Conferences in the U.S. and Vancouver, BC.